Merchandising display stand



Feb. i938. A. c. GlLBERT I MERCHANDISING DISPLAY STAND Filed June 18,1935 2- Sheets-Sheet l,

INVENTOR.

A TToRNEY Feb. l, 1938. A. c, GILBERT MERCHANDISING DISPLAY STAND FiledJune 18, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Feb. l, 1938 UNITEDSTATES PATET OFFICE- MERCHANDISING DISPLAY STAND Application June 18,1935, Serial N0. 27,169

9 Claims.

This invention relates to merchandising display stands and particularlyconcerns stands for this purpose of durable and portable constructionsuited to hold and display changeable items of merchandise.

An object of the invention is to provide a display stand of this naturewhich will afford a maximum capacity for holding articles of merchandisewhile occupying a minimum space on a sales counter.

A further object is to equip a stand of this nature with shelves orother means for carrying the displayed merchandise and with lights forilluminating the merchandise at close range to both the customer and thesalesperson standing on respectively opposite sides of the salescounter.

A further object is to arrange such lights in a manner to alsoilluminate the sales person and to conceal such lights from the directView of the customer.

A further object is to provide diierent backgrounds for diierentarticles of merchandise in Varying proximity to the lights so that inone case this background may be more brightly illuminated than themerchandise in front of it and so that in other cases the merchandiseitself may be more brightly illuminated than its background.

A further object is to equip such display stand with power means andelectric wiring connec tions both for the. power means and for` thelights, and to arrange driving connections-whe by the power means maymotivatel article merchandise such as animated toysilcyI way-ofdemonstrating their operation tothe customer.

A further object is to construct aldispl'ayst'and of this nature inunits whichmaybe'detached from one another and to construct theunits tobe, in part, collapsable and of such individual relative size andproportion that when "thefstan'd is knocked down theunitsthereof-mayfb'e packed together in a manner-itc require.` minimumspace. To this end, it is Aan object tomak'e; the-'electricalconnections between Y the units ,9 of quick detach."- able type 'andftot provide i wiring devices for "this purpose shall 'aordy extray'current taps for :convenience making Lu s'ejig electric",l1'I'Joys'fe'r Yfor`Qdeinensti/"ating electric appliances onfthe fsalesgcounter-in* proximity" to the display stand. f^ j Astillfiuitheifobject'V is toqeduipfthe'fdifsplay stand'jiwith meansreceptivefto interchangeable "andmovable signt devices Aso "positi'oned`"ast falso be illuminated by the lights of the displayi'stan'd with a3unique ee'c't i' VO''l brightness and-- sh'a'fd"A J Iflie'seE Earidiother "obj ectsfof'fth' "n'vention'are (Cl. 24U-2) attained by novelfeatures of construction and arrangement which will be plain from thefollowing' description of an illustrativey embodiment. Referring to theaccompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an isometric front view showing one 5 form of display standembodying4 the present improvements as it, together with the salescounter on which it rests, in general appears from a point higher thanthe top of the stand. r

Fig. 2 is an edgewise View of the stand taken 10 in section on a centralvertical .plane looking from left to right and lengthwise of the c un rin Fig. 1. e

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view o-ith bac the stand on va much smallerscale sh wiringI connections and indicating the-plan' which the units oithe standareiconstructe be separated or to collapse or shipping o storL'arrws l :.uz u In Fig'. 1"the-disp'layA standV as# "assembledf vand;supported one P to If'zorn'p'rise anflarchalih t'rudturefs vportion "ofthedn'gthv(if-the counter; n neiet neigmnL and f Wiath'-z to define"anarl @for er ruponafspace*iabovethecounter"A *to* enable-acustomer-'standing' nffro'nt o counter to yViewand?"converse'i'with' asales? per' n standing behind the counterand lcentral 'thestamm-'arnestand-is-fcomprise (columns.f of i yslielvesfflf' "s'upportinl by'a 'horiaontalheader'lZlprovi'ding he narrow 1250 lengthwisesheliiaandfthereabove; the ign;v ack "2.6", wh'chis'collapsaible in rlatiito'th and at each front corner by round posts I6, the bottom shelfserving as base for the stand. A panel I1 of width equal to the shelvesextends from bottom to top of each column of shelves to form abackground for articles of merchandise carried by the shelves fordisplay. Such articles appear displayed upon the shelves of the columnat the left end of the stand in Fig. 1 whereas the shelves of the columnat the right end of the stand are shown unoccupied better to illustratetheir construction.

The narrow shelf I3 on the header I2 is afforded by the front portion ofits baseboard I8 which extends the entire length of the header and has adepth equal to the depth of the shelves I I, and from which baseboardrises the vertical partition I9 held rigidly thereto by suitablebrackets 20 at the rear. The partition I9 serves as background forarticles of merchandise displayed above the shelf I3. Such articles maybe structural toys having moving parts as indicated in Fig. 1, in whichcase that portion of the baseboard I8 which lies behind the partition I9may carry power means and driving connections for animating the toys infront of the partition I9 to demonstrate their operation and therebyenhance sales appeal.

Power means are represented in Fig. 2 by the electric motor 2| whoseshaft may carry one or more pulleys respectively connected by chainssuch as 22, or otherwise belted to a wheel on shaft 23 which may extendto the front of partition I9 and carry or drive the movable part of thedisplayed toys such as the vanes 24 of the toy windmill 25.

At the top of partition I9, a sign rack 26 is collapsably carried by aseries of hinges 21 permitting the rack to swing from its erect positionshown by full lines in Figs. 1 and 2 to its collapsed position indicatedby broken lines in Fig. 2 wherein the top of the rack may abut againstthe inclined edges of brackets 20. Fig. 4 more plainly shows the hingedconstruction wherein one ap of the hinge is bent at right angles so thata portion of said flap aligns with the stationary partition I9 and theother portion at right angles` therewith, attaches to the sign rack.Thus the flap 28 of hinge 21 is enabled to support in rigid butswingable relation the sign rack in its erected position at the top ofpartition I9, in which position the rack is adapted to display Whatevercharacters it may be wished to insert within a holding groove 29provided by the bottom edge strip 30 extending the entirevlength of therack.

An example of sign` characters which may be interchangeably andadjustably carried by the groove 29 is shown in Fig. 5 to comprise aplate of material skeletonized to form cut-out letters joined andsupported by a base bar of the same material and preferably integraltherewith and of thickness and heighth to be slidably supported by andconcealed within the groove 29, thus displaying above the edge strip 30and against the front surface of partition I9, the sign charactersalone. A top strip 3| will prev-ent the sign devices from falling out ofgroove 29 when, the rack 26 is in collapsed position.

The display stand of these improvements may be equipped with any numberof lighting devices, each of which is suited to be carried at any pointon a shelf edge and constructed as follows. A rectangular notch 32 iscut in the edge of the shelf. An electric lamp socket 33 carrying thelamp bulb 34 is mounted in said notch by the bracket 35 which may befastened to the lower surface of the shelf in a manner to support thelamp socket and its bulb in axial alignment with the length of the notchand symmetrically with respect to the thickness of the shelf. That is tosay, the lamp bulb being of greater diameter than the thickness of theshelf extends as much above the thickness of the shelf as below thethickness of the shelf. To conceal the lamp bulb from the direct view ofthe customer a reflective cylindrical shade 36 spans the notchlengthwise and is preferably flush with the front edge of the shelf asshown in Fig. 6. This shade may be supported by means of cup-shapedshells 31 at each of its ends designed to be nailed or otherwise securedto the lateral edges of the notch. The circular extent of the shade 36may be more or less than that indicated in Fig. 8 depending upon theextent of the field which it is desired to illuminate. The bracket 35,as shown in Fig. 7, passes through a slot in one of the shells 31.

The field to be illumined is seen to be composed principally of thebackground I9 in the case of the toys displayed upon the narrow shelf I3of the header I2 whereby the toys, themselves, may be arranged to appearpartly in silhouette thus emphasizing the details of their skeletonizedstructure, whereas the eld to be illumined in the case of toys displayedupon the relatively deeper shelves II consists more largely of thesurfaces of the toys, themselves. the stand is thereby given a choice ofthese different characteristics of illumination for displaying to bestadvantage articles of merchandise differing in structure as indicated.

Fig. 2 further indicates that rays of light from the bulbs 34 carried bythe header I2 above the space central of the stand are in part directedto illuminate the salesperson standing behind the sales counter andpartly to illuminate the counter itself where goods may be handled anddemont strated to the customer. All goods displayed on shelves II areeasy of access both by the salesperson and by the customer, to be takenoff from the shelves and restored in the course of demonstration andsale. It will also be observed from L Fig. 2 that rays of light from thebulbs 34 may strike the sign characters carried by the rack 26 and in amanner to produce a deep shade cast by same and serving to accentuatethe front surface of the characters which are subjected to the light. InFig. 3 the plane 38 indicates the point of separation of the header I2from its two supporting columns of shelves. This separation is effectedby merely removing the screws 39 which hold the header to the tops ofposts I5 and I6. J. The plane 40 indicates the point of collapse atwhich the sign rack 26 is hinged to the header partition I9. From theproportions indicated in Fig. 3, it will be seen that when knocked downby the means of detachment and collapse above mentioned, the combinedlengths of the two columns of shelves about equals the overall length ofthe header and the cross-sectional areas of these units being similar,enables them to be placed side by side for packing in a space equal tothe length of the header and double the crosssectional area of thecolumn of shelves.

Fig. 3 also indicates an arrangement of wiring devices and attachmentcords permitting the ready setting up of the stand in condition for allits functions of illumination and animation by merely plugging a singlefeed cord into an electric outlet.

It will sufce to describe the electrical connections as comprising themain attachment cord 4I The user of f terminal block 45 on the headerl2. The header may receive its current supply from the connector cord 46running to the outlet 42 and is itself wired with connections indicateddiagrammatically at 41 to furnish current to the electric motor 2| andto the lights carried by the header. In addition to the electricalequipment above described an extra outlet is provided in the outletblocks 42 for convenience in obtaining current when needed for thedemonstration of electrically operated merchandise on the sales counter.

While there has been described in the foregoing, definite examples ofstructure and merchandise illustrative of the principles of theseimprovements, it will be understood that the same may be embodied inmany other and widely differing forms wherefore, without limitation tothe forms herein chosen, I claim: A

1. In a merchandising display stand, an upright supporting wall, meansto hold merchandise at spaced locations along the front surface of saidwall comprising shelves of opaque material extending forwardly from saidwall, one of said shelves separating the said locations, a sourse oflight positioned at the front edge of the last said shelf and disposedto illuminate merchandise displayed on the last said shelf together withmerchandise displayed therebelow, and a light shade disposed to be iiushWith the front edge of the shelf and shaped to extend partially aroundsaid source of light.

2. In a stand for displaying merchandise of diiferent structural typeswith respectively different characteristics of illumination, lightreflecting walls at the rear of said stand, a plurality of shelvesextending forwardly from said walls respectively to full and partialdepths therefrom, and a source of rearwardly directed light carried atthe front edge of each of said shelves, whereby merchandise displayed onshelves of full depth may be illuminated more brightly than is the wallat the rear of said merchandise, and whereby different merchandisedisplayed on shelves of partial depth may be illuminated less brightlythan is the wall at the rear of said different merchandise.

3. In a stand for displaying merchandise, a plurality of shelves havingfront edges disposed in substantially a common vertical plane, wallsforming a background at the rear of said shelves for merchandisedisplayed thereon, and a source of backwardly directed light carried atthe front edge of each of said shelves, the said walls being located atrespectively differing depths from the front edges of the shelves, saiddepths varying sufficiently to produce selectively in the display ofmerchandise by said stand an illumination of the background brighterthan that of the merchandise or an illumination of the merchandisebrighter than that of the background.

4. In a merchandising stand having shelves for the display ofmerchandise, illuminating equipment for projecting rays of lightdirected toward the merchandise and confined to backward directions fromthe front edge of the shelves, and embodying in combination with a.shelf having a notch in the front edge thereof, an electric lamp socketsupported in said notch in axial alignment with the plane of the shelfand centered in vertical relation to the thickness of said shelf, a lampbulb supported in said notch by said socket and also centered invertical relation to the thickness of the shelf, and a shade disposed atthe front of the lamp bulb in substantially flush relation to the frontedge of the shelf and formed to partially surround said lamp bulb.

5. In a merchandise display structure, a rear upright supporting wall,means to hold merchandise at spaced locations adjacent the front surfaceof said wall, a partition extending forwardly from said wall andseparating said locations, a single source of light positioned at thefront edge of said partition and disposed in a manner to project rays oflight rearwardly at both sides of said partition toward the merchandisedisplayed in both of said spaced and separated locations, and a lightshade shaped and disposed to environ the front portion and a part of thetop and/or bottom portion of said source of light.

6. In a merchandising display structure, a rear upright supporting wall,means to hold merchandise at spaced locations adjacent the front surfaceof said wall, a partition of opaque material extending forwardly fromsaid wall and separating said locations, an electric lamp supported bysaid partition having its length parallel with the front edge thereofand disposed to project rays of light rearwardly and simultaneously onboth sides of said partition toward merchandise displayed in both ofsaid spaced and separated locations, and an opaque light reflectingshade shaped and disposed to environ the front portion of said lampthroughout the length of the latter.

7. In combination with a merchandise display structure including thefeatures defined in claim 5, a light baffle extending crosswise one orboth ends of said source of light in a manner to restrict projection oflight rays from said source of light in lateral directions approachingthe horizontal.

8. In combination with a merchandise display structure including thefeatures defined in claim 5, an opaque disc-like light baille joined toone or both of the lateral ends of said light shade and extendingbackward therefrom across one or both ends of said source of lightthereby to restrict projection of light rays from said source of lightin lateral directions approaching the horizontal.

9. In a merchandising display structure, a rear y upright supportingwall, means to hold merchandise at spaced locations adjacent the frontsurface of said wall, a partition extending forwardly from said wall andseparating said locations and having an elongated notch in its frontedge, an elongated electric lamp bulb positioned parallel to saidpartition edge and supported within said notch in a manner to projectrays of light rearwardly and simultaneously on both sides of saidpartition toward merchandise displayed in both of said spaced andseparated locations, a disclike light baffle mounted on said partitionwithin and at each end of said notch, and a light shade comprising ashield of curved sheet-like material conformed to the periphery of saidbaffle and supported thereby at each of its ends in a position toenviron the front portion of said lamp bulb.

ALFRED C. GILBERT.

